Trailwalker 2009 - The Prize Draw, Pt. 2

It's Wednesday again, and I have another prize to show you for the Trailwalker 2009 Team Geek Prize Draw!

Way back when I was only beginning to plan my fundraising, I asked Diane if she wanted to contribute in any way, as she is very clever and talented like that. She said, sure. She'd think of something.

That something, my friends, is this:

A skein of her very own handspun!

Details of the yarn are on her blog here but I can at least tell you that it is Spunky Eclectic's very scrummy Corriepaca fibre in the colourway Riverwalk, which, as Diane pointed out, seemed incredibly appropriate!

Thank you very, very, very much, Diane, for such a beautiful contribution!

So what are you waiting for? This lovely handspun could be yours to knit, squish, cuddle, name, what-have-you and all you need to do is make a donation to the Gurkha Welfare Trust via our JustGiving site and I'll add your name to the hat!

Don't forget that to enter the draw you cannot claim GiftAid, and do add the line Trailwalker Prize Draw to your message so that I know you'd like to join in.

It has been big news for the Gurkhas in Britain this last week as they've finally won their long battle to gain the right to stay in the country after their years of loyal service. But just because it's all over it doesn't mean we should stop supporting them.

The more I walk the English countryside the more I am in awe of it, and the further I walk the more respect I have for these men who have such gregarious strength and solid nature. I can't wait until I get to meet some of them when we do the final walk. We'll probably get overtaken!

Meanwhile, yes, there has been knitting and spinning, but more spinning. My mojo is finally back!

Trailwalker 2009 - The Prize Draw, Pt. 1

Well, now's the time for it. This is the Trailwalker 2009 Team Geek Prize Draw!

For the next four Wednesdays I'll be posting up a new prize each time that you will have a chance to win when you take part!

As I've written before, as part of Team Geek myself and three intrepid friends are going to attempt 100km in 30 hours on the 18th adn 19th of July 2009 to raise money for the Gurkha Welfare Trust. The Gurkhas, of course, have set the record for this jaunt by taking a mere 9 hours and 50 minutes.

In doing my part for our fundraising efforts, I'm going to run a prize draw. Yarny and fibrey goodness could be yours!

If you would like to take part, just visit our JustGiving site at http://www.justgiving.com/teamgeek and you can even leave us a mesage of encouragement. Be aware that donations that are made as part of a prize draw cannot claim GiftAid.

If you do donate to take part in the prize draw, please include the line Trailwalker Prize Draw as part of your message.

So, on to the first of these prizes!

The lovely Jools at Spindlefrog has kindly and generously donated this beautiful Luxury Spinner's Set in the colourway Magic Spell. You get approximately 1 oz. each of Angora, Baby Camel, Kid Mohair, Baby Alpaca, Mulberry Silk and Cashmere.

It is ridiculously lush and squishy! I just can't tell you how gorgeous it is.

She has also included as a separate second prize a $30 gift voucher to spend at her Etsy shop.

Many, many thanks, Jools, for your generosity and support!

So what are you waiting for? Start donating, follow our training adventures at Team Geek's blog and look forward to next Wednesday when I show you what else is up for grabs!

I Be a Bad Blogger

My life has been mostly consumed by preparing for this great big Trailwalker event. Last weekend has been the only weekend in a while where I've not found myself trudging around somewhere, nursing sore calves and looking at OS maps. I've been racking up the miles, and I'm getting better, but I am still so terrfied by the full 100km.

But there has been knitting. I'm still working on Lindsay's much-delayed birthday present - though having seen it in progress, she approves of said gift - and have started a couple of other things.

I finally decided that it was time to join the revolution against the establishment - or something like that - and not knit sock club socks if I don't feel like it. Bearing in mind, I still want to do the top down socks, but I'm currently wary of toe-up socks, because I still can't seem to cast-off on the cuff loosely enough for my comfort.

One thing happened when I made this decision: I got all excited about knitting again. I started poring over patterns again. I looked at my queue. I cleared my queue a little. I bounced around my stash. Lace! Socks! Pullovers! Baby things! It was all fun again.

And the freedom! I pulled out a skein of yarn that I'd already had wound, a beautiful skein of Malabrigo Sock in Tiziano Red, and searched for a pattern. After finding one, I cast on.

And then decided I didn't like that pattern enough to make it with this gorgeous yarn.

So what did I do? I looked around some more.

Some things, though, are pretty inevitable.